In the 1980s, Argentina became the new epicenter of the UFO conspiracy universe as an intrepid and enterprising TV reporter doggedly pursued and then presented “proof” of a UFO landing in the mountains of rural Argentina.

His breathless, credulous reporting produced images of the burn-spot landing site, heiroglyphics he found in nearby caves and local eyewitnesses — at least some of whom had their hair turn bleached-white due to what they saw.

Former entertainment reporter Jose De Zer became a sensation, going on to cover Argentine conflict and politics. And the UFO world moved on to the next “hot spot” for alleged alien activity, sightings and “contact.”

Years later, it turned out De Zer didn’t just hype and sensationalize, he flat-out made it all up. He went so far as to make the cave drawings himself, and fake the “lights” in the night sky and his famous closest “encounter” with beings from another world.

Filmmaker Diego Lerman looked at this story, which seems suited for farce or ripe for a cautionary allegory in the latest era of “fake news,” and goes for something more poignant, a huxter’s descent into the madness of his own invention in “The Man Who Loved UFOs.”

It doesn’t work. Leonard Sbaraglia may be a deadr-inger for the long-dead De Zer — born José Bernardo Kerzer. He may do his utmost to make the guy sympathetic, someone who believes his own BS about reinventing journalism and taking himself and his station into “the television of the future” (in Spanish, or dubbed into English) by pulling out all the stops on covering “something people WANT to believe.” But Sbaraglia never makes that hard sell.

Yes, that “what hasn’t been proven but believed by everyone” is prophetic, as much of the world flirts with fascism, manipulated by sinister media figures who prey on the ignorant prejudices and conspiracy mania of their audience. But the movie isn’t really about that.

De Zer was an opportunist. His idea of giving “the people” something other than bad news about the Argentine economy, reminders of how badly The Falklands War went and the politics that had produced coups and mass murder along with them is debated by his TV higher-ups.

“But we’ve never actually just LIED to our viewers!”

De Zer — sort of an Art Bell/Tucker Carlson/Geraldo character — gets his way, and with his long-suffering cameraman Chando (Sergio Prina) he sets out to solve an economically depressed mining region’s “tourism” problem by helping them publicize their “UFO landing.”

There’s nothing noble, heroic, comical or tragic about him as he’s presented here. From the moment he gets his first bribe to “report” there (gold nuggets from their long-dormant mines) we keep our distance. And nothing Sbaraglia or Lerman do makes him riveting or even all that interesting, much less compelling.

There’s no “charm” to this scoundrel’s ill-gotten fame, or his connection to the singing, dancing TV personality (Mónica Ayos) whose flattering TV profiles are a joke — he’s sleeping with her.

Noting is made of the amusing possibilities of poor Chando trying to rein his on-air personality in when De Zer is hurdling across rocks and fields of the mountainous plateaus or plunging down a mine tunnel which they’ve “discovered” by accident, but a discovery that was “meant to be” by the aliens allegedly directing their quest, luring them on.

And while there are glimpses of how this “coverage” made De Zer a folk hero, Lerman makes no effort to convey the fanatical devotion, the deluded “belief” and how their credulity made Argentines look or feel, and what being fooled this way cost them.

What we get instead are flashbacks to De Zer’s service during “The Six Day War” in Israel (he’s Jewish), the Sinai Desert epiphany he maintains ordained him to be the one the aliens “trust” for this “story.”

Even that had comic possibilities, one of the “chosen people” chosen by aliens, or so he wants everyone to believe.

Every journalist knows how easy it would be to “fake” most stories, just as every cop is most expert in the field of knowing what she/he can get away with. Seeing someone, for screenplay reasons that we never, ever buy into, go to all this trouble to fool people and fake his way to TV fame is more disheartening than amusing.

On the positive side of things, this film amusingly undercuts every huxter trying to sell his or her latest “UFO Investigation” documentary. “The truth is out there,” as De Zer repeats. Too bad most of the people claiming they’re “finding” that truth are either credulous clowns or con-artists.

There’s no suspense in the tale, even in its “big finish.” “Tragic” was never in the cards, as this con man got away with his stunt. But this could have been dark and funny. It isn’t.

Presenting this story in a fstraightforward manner does the character no favors, as he is beneath contempt, but never in an amusing way. It’s a progressively more fanatical performance that feels too colorless to make us care.

Rating: TV-MA, nudity, sex, smoking, profanity

Cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Sergio Prina and Mónica Ayos

Credits: Directed by Diego Lerman, scripted by Adrián Biniez and Diego Lerman. A Netflix release.

Running time: 1:48